Arbor Day

Alpharetta isn’t just a “Tree City USA” in name only. The city is home to some of the most beautiful and historically-significant specimen trees in the area. This month the Alpharetta Natural Resources Commission is sponsoring a geo-hunt that will entertain and educate people about these special trees. Geo-hunters and city officials will meet on March 9, 2013, at Rock Mill Park to celebrate Arbor Day. The celebration, which will include a tree-planting, will take place from 10 a.m. to noon.

Arbor Day began in Nebraska as a way to encourage pioneers to plant many of the trees they loved and missed from their homes back east. The state also needed more trees to provide fuel, shade and windbreaks. The first Arbor Day was observed in Nebraska in 1872. The movement grew and has been celebrated in Georgia communities since 1890 when it was created by proclamation by the Georgia General Assembly.

The Arbor Day Geo-Hunt (which is modeled after a geo-cache) calls on geo-hunters to plug coordinates into a global positioning system or a smart phone and follow a path to find Alpharetta’s important trees. Geo-hunters are invited to report their finds to the city and attend the Arbor Day celebration to contend for prizes. “Alpharetta hosts an annual Arbor Day event to draw attention to our wonderful trees and the benefits they provide to all of us, including clean air and clean water, shade, breezes and beauty,” says Deb Zemlock, chairman of the Alpharetta Natural Resources Commission.

The Geo-Hunt and the Arbor Day event are free and everyone is invited to attend. For more information on the Arbor Day Geo-Hunt contest, go to www.alpharetta.ga.us and click on the Geo-Hunt banner or call 678-297-6200.